TALTALI, Barguna — Residents in Taltali upazila have accused a Forest Department beat officer of colluding with a syndicate to fell and sell trees from a reserve forest, locals said.
The official named in the allegations is Haider Ali, who is in charge of the Nishanbaria beat in Barabagi union of the upazila.
Residents said tree cutting in the forest had increased since Ali took charge of the beat. They alleged he had direct ties to a tree-theft syndicate. Five large keora trees were recently felled from the Nishanbaria beat’s forest area, they said.
Based on the roots and adjacent trees, residents estimated each tree was worth about 20,000 taka, putting the total value at about 1 lakh taka. They said the trees had been cut after the beat officer was paid off and that timber was routinely removed from various parts of the forest with no action taken against those responsible.
Residents also said Ali had faced earlier accusations of irregularities and corruption, including leasing forest char land to local fishermen for thousands of taka each year and selling off boats seized from fishermen.
Asked about the allegations, Ali first told reporters to come to his office. During the conversation there, he requested that the matter not be published and tried to influence the journalists with offers of money.
Range Officer Motiur Rahman said he had received multiple complaints against Ali previously. “If we find evidence of tree cutting, action will be taken,” he said.
Sebak Mandal, the acting upazila nirbahi officer of Taltali, said he had received complaints of tree cutting against Ali. The range officer will be directed to take necessary action, he said.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report